Tag Archives: la llorona

La Llorona

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Primary Language: English

The informant, K, is 19 years old. She was born in Long Beach, California but was raised in Los Angeles. Her dad is from Guadalajara, Mexico (Southern Mexico) but moved to the United States when he was 2. Her mom was born in Obregon, Sonora (Northern Mexico) but grew in Mexicali (a US-Mexico border town), and she moved to the United States when she was 18. She is majoring in Applied Mathematics with a Computer Science Minor. She considers herself Mexican-American (or Chicana).

 

K-“Ok so we were told the story of La llorona, and for us it was basically like uh the background was that this woman this beautiful woman in this indigenous pueblo uh she fell in love with the Spanish conquistador and had children but then the conquistador left her for like another woman. Because she was in love with this man so much, every time she saw him in them, the children. And that’s the whole reason she drowned them in a like. After she drowned them, she like mourned them so she would go around at night saying ‘oh mis ninos’ (my children) and supposedly she kidnaps kids at night if they’re near the lake. And she is still a ghost that haunts that area where she used to live”

When did you first hear this story?

K-“Um I heard it in elementary school I think I was in 4th grade”

Have you heard this story from other people as well?

K-“Yup, I heard it from my family and the kids at school. Kind of all the same, all the same versions”

Did you use to live near a body of water or some forested area?

K-“No”

Analysis- This version of the story is seen as a way to ensure the proper behavior of children. The legend is specifically aimed to children, as it is the children that get drowned and the children that get kidnapped. The fact that she did not live near a body of water, which is where according to the legend is where the ghost appears, proves that this is a story told by the adults to make children behave. The legend is also given credibility by introducing some history into it in the form of the conquistador and the traditional Mexican woman. This legend would, therefore, not be easily accepted and used in other cultures.

La Llorona

Nationality: Mexican
Age: 18
Primary Language: English

The informant, J, is 18 years old born and raised in Coachella, California. His mom is from Delano, California, while his dad is from Indio, California. He is majoring in Print and Digital Journalism with a Media, Economics, and Entrepreneurship minor. He also considers himself Mexican.

J-“So the folklore story that we used to hear was La Llorona and that was a big thing in Mexican culture. La llorona is this ghost of a woman and she lost her children while looking by the river they drowned and you can hear her crying and crying. Parents would tell their kids this stuff this story whenever they would do something that seemed pretty dangerous or they’re like behaving badly. So like I remember going to the park and doing something I wasn’t supposed to be doing and like my parents telling me ‘oh you’re going to end up like la llorona’s kids like they drowned in the river because they were doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing.’ Just like when you were behaving bad they’re like ‘I want la llorona to come after you’ and stuff like that. I remember my aunts and uncles would tell me this stuff before going to bed, ‘I would hear her crying at night’, just trying to freak me out. Now as an older person is funny but then it wasn’t funny because you take that stuff pretty seriously when you’re that young”

Do you remember what age you were when you heard this?

J-“I think I was like 7 or 8. Oviously you’re not going to tell a 6 year old that because like they’re still naïve. But like when you’re 7 or 8 you have a better concept of the world around you. That’s when you can start telling kids stuff like this”

Do you still hear the story?

J-“Uh, like everyone that surrounds me is like pretty much grown up so they think its like a running joke like ‘remember when tio (uncle) would talk about la llorona?’ There’s like no little kids in our family”

Do you think there is a specific reason why they told you that story instead of another?

J-“Well I’m Mexican. The area that I grew up in California is mainly Mexican citizens and so that’s something very popular at least in Mexico folklore. So yea that’s probably the reason why. That’s what they grew up with in Mexico”

Are there any forested areas or bodies of water nearby where you lived?

J-“By my house there was this park that also serves as a rain ditch so whenever it rains that park takes all of the water so that way it doesn’t go into the streets. That place is full of grass 8 of 10 times of the year and then like the other 2 is filled with water. So that was usually a point of interest with la llorona because like she’s crying by the river so this would be considered the river by the house”

Analysis- In this version of la llorona, the children died accidentally while playing near the river. Traditionally, la llorona was the one that drowned her children. This could have changed so that it would not be so harsh and scary to the children who it was being told to. The body of water also changed to fit even the rain ditch. This shows how the folklore changes according to its context and who its being to. Since there are no more children to tell the story to, the legend is beginning to die away. It is now only a memory from time to time. If there are no children added to the family, the story may be completely forgotten. It is evidence that while the story is known by everyone, it is predominately used as a legend for children, and it is otherwise not really spoken about.

La Llorona

Nationality: Guatemalan, American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Performance Date: April 27, 2016
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish

There is a woman in a small town in Mexico and um she was very vain and prideful of her beauty and she would look at herself in the river in the town and she vowed she would only marry the most beautiful man in the world. And then she ended up marrying him and they had children but he left her and she drowned her children in the river and felt so bad about it and killed herself but the people in the town still see her crying and saying “mis niños” and “mis hijos” and they call her La Llorona because she cries all the time.

 

Background: I conducted this interview live, so this story was given to me in person. I had heard this legend before from another informant who had not been able to give me a report as detailed as this one. This is a story that the informant had been told many times since she was a young child. I thought this was interesting because it followed the lines of what we had learned in class or what we had read for the class, in the required readings. This was interesting to hear from someone who had not researched it but it was actually a part of the folklore passed around in her culture and from family members, something she had learned just through the environment she was in.

La Llorona

Nationality: Guatemalan
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Orange County, California
Performance Date: 4/5/16
Primary Language: English

The informant heard the legend of the mythological creature, La LLorona (“She who cries”) was heard when she was a child in Guatemala.

 

EO: La Llorona. I guess she–I don’t know if she was poor or tired of her kids… so she took her kids to a lake and drowned them. And then afterwards, she felt really bad, so she killed herself. And now she just goes through all eternity crying for her kids. And she screams like “Mis ninos! Mis ninos!”.

Is she supposed to be scary?

EO: I would say so. If I hear La Llorona, I would probably cry.

Where’d you hear that one from?

EO: Um, my mom. I don’t think I heard it from anyone else. My mom.

Why do you think she’d tell it to you?

EO: In Latin America, um, they tell stories to scare children into behaving.

 

 

La Llorona is a famous legend in all Latin America, and is one of many used by parents to teach their children about the dangers of the world.

For example, this is a film based off the folklore of La Llorona

La llorona

Nationality: Mexican-American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Gardena, CA
Performance Date: 3/20/16
Primary Language: English
Language: Spanish, Japanese

Text (J is the informant, M is the collector):

J: So, she’s like this lady who, umm, was depressed or something until she killed — decided to kill her kids in this depressive episode. And then she went to, like, a river and — actually, I remember learning about “cenotes.” You know what that is?

M: No

J: In Mexico, they have them. They’re really really big, like huge circles and it’s like a water hole. And like you go really deep. And people used to, like I think during the Mayan and Aztec time, like they would sacrifice people and throw them in there.

M: Mhm.

J: So, I think I remember La Llorona having something to do with the cenotes. Like, killing her kids and dropping them in there — in a cenote. And then, so it was scary because there’s like a myth like after that — after she killed herself and like threw herself into the cenote, like she would find… like she would kidnap kids and do the same thing. That’s kinda the reason I was so scared of cenotes, too. Like the idea of a cenotes, really just a big water hole. There are a lot of like stories associated with it. With people being sacrificed and thrown in there and, uh, dying, so I’m pretty sure La Llorona.. She also used a cenotes. And it says that if you go near La Llorona that she’ll… you’ll know that it’s her because she’s saying, “Oh, mis hijos, donde estan mis hijos,” which means like “my kids, where are my kids?” And then she’d like take you and kill you.. And throw you in the cenote.

Background

The informant is a first generation Mexican-American student. She learned this legend from one of her aunts who would tell the story to her and her cousins very late at night during family parties in Mexico. She said that the legend always made her feel very scared of La Llorona and cenotes, but it also made her feel more connected to the Mexican side of the family and her family’s history in Mexico.

Context

This piece of folklore was performed while a group of college students sat around a bonfire at night during a camping trip. Several people had already told a scary story before this one, so the atmosphere was slightly on-edge.

Thoughts

I think the informant was spot on in analyzing her feelings about this legend. The reason adults probably tell this legend is to encourage kids to stay away from dangerous waterways, specifically cenotes. However, when this legend is brought outside the context of Mexico, part of the appeal is probably that, as such a prolific Mexican legend, it helps people identify themselves with their Mexican heritage.

For another version of this legend, see:

Coleman, Wim, Pat Perrin, and Martha Avilés Junco. La Llorona. South Egremont, MA: Red Chair, 2015. Print.